Page 52 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

FORTY-EIGHT

John dreamed that he was blind and deaf. It seemed more of a reality than a nightmare. His body suddenly jerked unconsciously, waking him. It was a strange feeling as he concentrated on staying awake.

He was lying on his back instead of leaning against the well wall.

It was as if someone had spoken to him, but he realized that wasn’t possible.

John wondered if the coffee had had something else in it.

He wondered if he was really down a well shaft or if he was hallucinating.

The more he thought about it, the more his thoughts tangled.

“Stop it!” he yelled. No one would hear him, but it felt good to release some of the anger he was feeling. It felt like he had been down the well for days or even weeks. The solitary confinement was excruciating.

John forced himself to sit up and then he stood up tall. It was challenging due to the weakness of his limbs, but he had to do something.

He had been reliving everything and allowing his thoughts to take over; instead, he should have been hyper-focused on getting out of his predicament. That’s what the military taught him. Now he was just getting lazy.

John hadn’t realized that water was now falling steadily from the wall.

It looked clean and natural. He cupped his hands and began to drink.

It was the most amazingly satisfying drink he had ever encountered.

There wasn’t much water in his hands, but he kept drinking for several minutes and then splashed his face.

He could feel the chill from above and the water below was freezing, but it made him feel alive.

There was a strange sound. At first, he thought he had imagined it. No, he was sure. It sounded like heavy steps moving quickly. And then he heard voices in low tones. He thought about it and then listened hard. There were voices from above.

“Help! Down here!”

“Help!”

John realized that the voices he thought he heard were only his imagination.

The daylight was fading—soon it would be dark.